The Dow Jones industrial average fell 43.72 to 5,626.88. It popped up at the open, meandered for most of the session at moderately lower levels but then fell sharply in late afternoon.

Decliners led advancers by about 6 to 5 on the New York Stock Exchange, with 779 unchanged. Big Board volume totaled 402.84 million shares vs. 397.75 million in Tuesday's session.

Broad-market indexes also were lower.

The NYSE composite fell 1.94 to 348.09. The S&P 500 list dropped 4.06 to 648.91, and the Nasdaq composite fell 5.53 to 1,093.88.

At the American Stock Exchange, the market value index fell 0.12 to 568.59.

The big problem in the stock market was bonds, which sank precipitously late in the session. The benchmark 30-year Treasury bond was down 1 7-32 point late in the day, pushing its yield, which rises when prices fall, to 6.68 percent.

Bonds fell after traders pored over Congressional Greenspan's testimony before the House Budget Committee, in which he said "the current economic expansion seems to have staying power." Bond traders took that to mean the Fed is not likely to ease interest rates any time soon.

Although traders and analysts blamed Greenspan's comments, they also said bonds fell on technical factors.